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Announcing ART 2015 in Brewster NY

Announcing ART 2015 in Brewster NY

We are now in our fifth year of hosting the Artist Round Table (ART) and we are pleased to announce a very special location for this year’s conversation. Raymond Ketcham has been granted an artistic residency at SPACE on Ryder Farm in Brewster, New York where he will be hosting a four-day round table with artists and photographers.

SPACE, an interdisciplinary residency program, is celebrating its fifth season. It’s mission is “to support artists by providing a workshop space singular in its ability to reinvigorate the artists’ spirit and their work. SPACE is the answer to dormant creativity, giving artists time and space to do what they do best: create.” This 220 year-old working organic farm has been a second home to more than 575 artists who were working on 180 different projects, and included among them are Tony award winners, Guggenheim fellows and Pulitzer Prize finalists.

It is in this beautiful rustic New York country setting, enriched by artists who have come before us, that we are going to host our annual discussion for photographers on discovering their visual voice. We will talk about the 3 I’s (inspiration, imitation and influence) and we will address head-on the notion of fear in art. We discuss the difference between art and craft and between vision, voice and style. But it won’t be just photographers having this conversation because as always, we have invited artists who use other mediums of expression to join us.

This year because of the generosity of SPACE on Ryder Farm, we are adding one more day to the program. We will use this time to help create a roadmap for your journey to discover and use your own unique voice in photography. To do this, we are going to draw upon people who have previously attended ART. Their own experiences have informed all of us what works and where the challenges will lie for most of you.

If you are interested in going beyond making pretty pictures with your camera and would like to progress further along the road to being a visual artist, we invite you to send us your expression of interest.

Workshop Details

  • ART will be held from October 21 to 25, 2015 at SPACE on Ryder Farm in Brewster, New York (4 nights, 5 days).
  • Participants will share accommodations including bathrooms. Keep in mind this is a historic property dating back to 1795. It has all the amenities you will need but it is not the Ritz Carleton (thankfully!)
  • All meals are included.
  • Transportation to and from the train station in Brewster will be provided. Flights to New York and airport transfers are not included.
  • Cost US$1395.

Expression of Interest

If you would like to attend ART at SPACE on Ryder Farm, please send us an expression of your interest via email outlining what you hope to gain from being a part of the round table and what you would bring to the discussion. Please also include a link to a portfolio of your personal work i.e. no images created while on a workshop or photo tour. If these are not available online, please let us know so that we can make other arrangements to view your portfolio. We will be accepting expressions of interest until September 18, 2015 after which time, a final decision will be made regarding the list of attendees. Payment in full will be due upon acceptance to ART.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us via emailTo learn more about previous roundtables, view posts hereTo see work from some ART Alumni, visit this page

If you’d like to learn more about SPACE at Ryder Farm, check out this TEDxBroadway video or follow their Instagram account.

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ART 2013 Missoula

ART 2013 Missoula

In September, alumni from previous round tables were invited to participate in a workshop in Missoula with special guest William Albert Allard. We were treated to a very moving retrospective of Allard’s life work including his intimate story of the Hutterites in Montana. The rest of the weekend was sent working on our own stories which we brought with us to Missoula.

This was the first round table that was more of a workshop rather than a retreat where the conversation is the focus of our time together. We all stayed in one big house just outside of Missoula and took all our meals together. As we were all previous attendees, this was a special time to renew friendships in person and to bond over the projects we had been working on.

Sabrina Henry discussed her project A Night at the Market.
Dorothy Brown brought her work on Cajun Zydeco.
Ken Udle worked on his essay on the Rodeo.

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ART 2013 Port Townsend

ART 2013 Port Townsend

The third Artist Round Table was held in Port Townsend July 2013. Photographers from China, Seattle, Indiana, Vancouver and Port Townsend met together with sculptor Jan Hoy and writer Wes Cecil. The discussions were very passionate as participants shared their own interpretations of art and being an artist. We may not have all agreed but being transparent is an important aspect of ART. There were light moments too as people stepped outside into the “weeping garden” for a moment of quiet reflection and met in small groups at the end of the night for “debriefs”. No one gets to bed early at any ART!

Here is a wonderful idea one of the participants Franz Amador shared with us: 154 Rocks

And here is a blog post by Deborah Howard: ART: The Care and Feeding of Creativity

Plus a few thoughts from Edward Brydon who attended both 2013 round tables: In the Rear View Mirror

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